Looking for any reports on effectiveness of offering free ebooks - A study of genre

[Dr. Drib]

Is anyone aware of a study that specifically analyzes ebooks - by genre - that are free for a limited time, as well as the impact of how a free ebook performs after the "free time" is over? Again, I'm looking for a study that focuses on the idea of genre.

If anyone can direct me to any studies on this, I would appreciate it.

[BeccaPrice]

I don't think I've seen any specific studies, but anecdotally, it seems to work best on the first book of a series, regardless of genre.

In my experience, it doesn't work particularly well for stand-alone books. Oh, I get a ton of downloads, but no carry-over to my other books.

[crich70]

I've never heard of any studies though I wouldn't be surprised if some genre's do get more attention than others just on their own. Certainly at places like Smashwords the 1st book of a series is often offered for free and I presume it's because the author figures if the reader enjoys the 1st then he/she will buy the 2nd in order to find out what happens next. I imagine that the price of the subsequent books also plays into things as well. I'd be more likely to buy multiple sequel books that run .99 -$2.99 in cost than I would books that cost $9.99 on up.

[mr ploppy]

On Amazon a few years ago they used to count a free download as a sale, so when it stopped being free it would stay in the bestseller list, so people would see it. Now, you'd use it more as a taster for your other books. But when it's free people will download everything they see, so your chance of them ever reading it is pretty slim. Plus they won't bother with the description or sample, so if it turns out to be something different to what they imagined it might be they will moan about it.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by mr ploppy

On Amazon a few years ago they used to count a free download as a sale, so when it stopped being free it would stay in the bestseller list, so people would see it. Now, you'd use it more as a taster for your other books. But when it's free people will download everything they see, so your chance of them ever reading it is pretty slim. Plus they won't bother with the description or sample, so if it turns out to be something different to what they imagined it might be they will moan about it.

That's a good point to remember, that books downloaded for free probably don't have the best chance - or urgency - of being read.

I do, however, remember when members (including myself) downloaded ANYTHING that was free. (This was back in the days of the Sony 500.) I'm now more discriminating about what I download. I like to think most people are, but I do feel you're right about the chances of one's book being read are much slimmer than if the book was not free.